Education & Training Courses Available

Courses for nurses, advanced practice providers, pharmacists, and other health care professionals who care for oncology patients are outlined below. Registration is required for all courses.

UPMC employees are required to register for educational programs through uLearn. uLearn is accessed by logging into MY HUB on the UPMC Infonet. A user guide is available on the uLearn home page. Manager approval may be required for some programs. If you receive this notice when enrolling, please notify your manager of your interest in the program.

Links to the registration forms for non-UPMC employees are provided below.

Time: Unless otherwise specified, are as follows:

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m.

Lectures begin at 8:00 a.m.

Course adjournment is at 4:30 p.m.

Location: Courses are held on the UPMC Shadyside Campus at 5150 Centre Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15232. Exact location will be provided in the confirmation letter sent one week prior to the course.

Nursing Continuing Education Credit

UPMC Provider Unit is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. All courses will provide continuing nursing education credit.

Specific course information including objectives, information on continuing education credits, course brochure and location are available by clicking on the course brochure.

For questions or to request additional information, email Brittni Prosdocimo at bittnerb@upmc.edu or call 412-623-3671.

The following five courses make up the Foundations to Practice in Oncology series:

Pathophysiology of Cancer, Cancer Treatment Modalities, and the Immune System

Overview of Solid Tumors

Symptom Management of Patients with Cancer

Oncology Emergencies and Advanced Cancer Care Issues

Hematologic Malignancies

It is strongly recommended that UPMC staff who are required to take the Comprehensive Chemotherapy and Biological Therapies Course take these five courses as a prerequisite. All others may take individual courses of choice.

This one-day course provides a general overview of cancer, the disease process, treatments, symptom management, and its impact on patients and families. It is intended to enhance the practice of both health care professionals and ancillary staff who care for cancer patients in hospitals, ambulatory care, home care, hospice, extended care, or rehabilitation settings.

Staff members can attend the morning session or the entire day. The morning topics are applicable to all staff, including nurses, office staff and other health care professionals, who want to learn more about what cancer is, treatment options, and psychosocial needs of cancer patients. The afternoon topics are geared for nurses and other staff who need to learn more about assessment and care of oncology patients, the use of blood products, and select oncology emergencies.

This four-day course is designed to address needs of nursing, pharmacy and other professionals in relation to chemotherapy and biological therapies. It includes information on current pharmacotherapy, safe handling, administration of anticancer agents, and various issues concerning the management of patients receiving cancer therapy.

This two-day course addresses the individual and joint needs of nursing, pharmacy, and other professions in relation to stem cell transplantation. It includes information on current transplantation issues such as patient work-up, disease process, and patient care and management. Topics include types of transplants, mobilization, preparative regimens, growth factors, the role of total body irradiation, transfusion issues, graft vs. host disease, veno-occlusive disease, and other transplant related topics.

This two-day course provides an overview of the information required to assist the oncology nurse in preparing for the oncology nursing certification (OCN) exam. Information provided in this course is consistent with review materials provided by the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation.